Garden Friday

Happy May Day!

 Welcome to soggy Garden Friday.
We were blessed with almost 4 inches of rain
on Wednesday night, with a little more yesterday.
The garden loves those raindrops, 
                                            every 
                                                      single 
                                                              one.

bush beans planted in straw bales

 Wouldn't you know that as soon as we got our irrigation system
up and running, the rains came?
This is me not complaining!
We finally got our act together and acquired all of the compatible parts
to put together a cohesive, working system.
It will be so worth the effort,
and save me a ton of time on watering.

We may need to tweak things a bit,
we will be testing out how efficient it is in the next week or two.
The onions in this 3X8 bed seem to be quite content.

The Yukon Gold potatoes that share the bed
are growing taller every passing day.
I'm hoping we'll have enough to share.

 The asparagus is a first time plant for me
and I have a lot to learn.
One key element to successful growing of this perennial,
is to keep the area surrounding it free from weeds.
Asparagus doesn't like to compete for nutrients in the soil.

The temperature seems to be just right for the beets.
They've started putting on more leaves and growth overall.

 A sampling of the leaves helped me decide that
I need to remember to harvest these for my daily salad.
They have such good flavor and the texture is almost creamy.
It's wonderful to be able to once again graze in the garden.

 I was shocked to see how much the lettuces had grown
in their coffee can homes.

By next week, I hope to be able to harvest some baby greens.
 

more lettuce on the way!

 These strawberries are from last year and had been planted in a straw bale.
Unfortunately, I had to move them into a tub
because I was reconfiguring the garden to accommodate the drip hoses,
but so far, they seem to be doing just fine.

 Looks like the makings for some pickles may be in the offing.
Last year, the only variety I had any success with was White Wonder.
It was probably "gardener error",
but I was glad to see these coming up.

One of my tasks this week was to screen my red wigglers.
This requires me to take the worms out of the bin,
and leave the castings in a separate container.
There is still some shredded paper in the mix,
but it will decompose over time.
The castings are used as is, or by making a tea with them,
and fertilizing the veggie beds with it.
Here's where we made our worm bin.

One of our trips away from home this week
was to collect mulch from our local landfill.
This shredded mulch is available to county residents
and they load up your truck or trailer for free.
Guess what I'll be doing this weekend?

 There are a few areas that I'm working on
covering with cardboard (to deter weeds)
and then placing the free mulch over the top.
This method works great for walkways.

 A neighbor let me have this cute lil' cedar tree
that was in the way of her veggie bed.
Another neighbor gifted me with this liriope
that I used to surround the tree.
We have very generous neighbors.
Slowly, plants are being added to the perimeter of the property.
After all, it can't be about veggies all the time!

A neighbor on the next block has this gorgeous 
false indigo blooming in his front yard.
Actually, he has two.
A friend gave me a great idea to ask him for some seed pods
so we can both get us some of the yellow variety.
Works for me!

What's happening in your spring garden?